1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inlay card for decorating an enclosure, to packaging for a disk-shaped medium, to a method for manufacturing an inlay card for decorating an enclosure as well as to a method for packaging a disk-shaped medium. In particular, the present invention relates to inlay cards for decorating an enclosure, especially a jewel case, having a curved and/or multifaceted side wall.
2. Description of the Related Prior Art
It is well known to package disk-shaped media such as CDs and DVDs in so-called jewel boxes or jewel cases. A particular advantage associated with jewel cases is that the so-packaged media can then be stacked or shelved in an orderly manner analogous to the storage of books. Indeed, jewel cases are typically provided with an inlay card having text and/or images printed thereon that can be viewed via a transparent side wall of the jewel case, even when numerous jewel cases are abuttingly stacked or shelved.
The above aspect of jewel case packaging of disk-shaped media constitutes a significant aspect in its popularity with both retailers and consumers. Were it not for this ability of jewel cases to present information along a side face thereof, similar to the presentation of information on the spine of a book, they could not be stacked or shelved in such a space-saving manner without significantly inconveniencing a person desiring to e.g. make a selection from or peruse through a plurality of media. Slender-styled jewel cases are inconvenient to the user in this respect, i.e. in their presentation of information, when stacked or shelved, and have consequently been ill-received by the market.
To improve customer appeal, jewel cases having roughly the outer dimensions of a standard jewel case, yet with a curved side face, are under development. These have a unique aesthetic appeal that can be further improved upon via employment of novel mechanisms for opening the jewel case and/or for releasing the disk-shaped medium therefrom. If such jewel cases are to enjoy commercial success, it is essential that these be able to present information when stacked or shelved at a level of quality that retailers and consumers have come to expect.
To meet this demand with regard to jewel cases having a curved side face, an inlay card 10 as depicted in FIG. 1 was developed. Inlay card 10 is similar to conventional inlay cards in that it comprises a major surface 11 as well as a minor surface 12 and a minor surface 13, the latter two of which can be bent with respect to the major surface 11 so as to be perpendicular thereto. In this respect, the inlay card 10 is configured and adapted to be received by a jewel case such that the major surface 11 is received by a major surface of the jewel case, e.g. the “back” of the jewel case typically situated opposite a hinged, booklet-carrying door thereof when closed, and such that the minor surfaces 12 and 13 are received by respective side faces of the jewel case, e.g. the respective “ends” of the jewel case, at least one of which is typically visible when numerous jewel cases are abuttingly shelved.
To account for the curvature of the curved side face of the jewel case, two wedge-shaped sections 14a and 14b are removed from the inlay card 10 such that minor surface 13 is nearly entirely disjoint from major surface 11, i.e. such that only a narrow section 15 of card connects minor surface 13 to major surface 11. Although this approach is aesthetically appealing and promotes readability in that it allows minor surface 13 to fully conform to the curved side face of the jewel case without incurring a warping or creasing of the inlay card 10, it is not without drawbacks.
A particular disadvantage of the aforementioned approach is that the slender tips 16 of the wedge-shaped sections 14a, 14b adjacent to the narrow section 15 of card connecting minor surface 13 to major surface 11 cannot be reliably removed by machine and consequently require that the wedge-shaped sections 14a, 14b be removed manually. It is, in fact, even difficult to cleanly punch out wedge-shaped sections 14a, 14b. 
In addition to the aforementioned difficulties, the peculiar and fragile design of inlay card 10 of FIG. 1 makes it highly ill-suited for automated assembly into jewel cases using conventional inlay card processing machines. Indeed, tests with regard to the assembly of such inlay cards into jewel cases using conventional inlay card processing machines failed to yield a reliable process. Even comprehensive tests employing alternative/supplementary techniques such as forced air, vacuum bores as well as other mechanical processing of the inlay cards repeatedly resulted in an unacceptably high percentage of torn or creased inlay cards. Fully automated manufacture and assembly of jewel cases and their respective inlay cards, however, is likewise essential for their commercial success.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inlay card that can be automatically assembled into a jewel case having a curved and/or multifaceted face, preferably using conventional inlay card processing machines.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inlay card for decorating a jewel case having a transparent or translucent, curved and/or multifaceted side face such that the aesthetic appeal and/or readability of information provided by said inlay card via said curved/multifaceted side face matches, is essentially indiscernible from or exceeds the level of quality expected by retailers and consumers on account of their experience with conventional jewel cases.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inlay card for decorating a jewel case having a curved and/or multifaceted side face, wherein the design of the inlay card is suitable for automated manufacture.
It is an object of the present invention to provide packaging for a disk-shaped medium employing such a jewel case and such an inlay card.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing such an inlay card or for providing such packaging.